Little Buddy Heater problem.

[svingla]

I was fishing yesterday in my portable and started having issues with my Little Buddy. After changing the 1lb propane tank, the dang thing would not stay running. The pilot would easily light up and then I would switch it up to Low. It would run for maybe five to ten minutes and then the pilot would go out and shortly there after the heating panel. It would do the same thing when in High. Anybody ever experience anything like this or have suggestions for remedying the problem?

[JosMN]

What were you running it in? Dont those have an co2 sensor and shut off when the co2 is too high? Or its a dirty thermocouple.

[Gordie]

When it gets colder the heater pulls the pressure from the tank to fast and the tank can not keep up to the demand from the heater.

Mine worked fine but as it got colder yesterday I noticed the heat output lowering.

[harvey lee]

Not quite sure why the pressure would be low in the tank when it is inside the portable and the tank warm.

Typically when a propane tank is low, then the cold will reduce the pressure in the tank and it will not flow well. I would think if the tank is inside the warm portable, the pressue in the tank should be high enough to flow well.

Many times I use my 5 or 10# propnae tank inside the portable and I have never had a pressure issue when it gets very cold outside.

Once I had an issue with the ceramic tile not heating up all the way and turning glo red. The issue, one of the small steel clips that holds the tile in place fell out and then air can get in the back and it will not heat correcrtly.

I would check the white tile and make sure it is very solid inplace. If one of the clips fell out, it will give you the issues you are having also.

Make sure your 1# tank is completly tight in the fitting.

Could be the thermo couple also as suggested above.

I would try to gently bend it closer to the pilot fire. May not hurt to slightly sand on the tip of the thermocouple to see if that helps. A piece of emery paper is all it takes.

If the tile is tight in place and the thermocouple is fine, then I would say you had a pressure issue.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I'd have to agree that the one pounder was to cold. The evaporation of the propane made it even colder. It is not uncommon to have a lot of frost frozen to a can even on a warmer day even with the can mounted on the heater.

Try it again with the warmer temps on Tuesday and see if it operates normally.

Did you have the spare one pounder in the house or in the truck before you used it?

[dan z]

Not looking to steal the thread but the red button on my big buddy broke. I have ordered a new but I either ordered the wrong one or they sent the wrong one, Grrrrrr. Which one do I order since there are different ones from year to year?

[KJMinion]

Dan z, check out the mr heater HSOforum. There is a parts matrix you can look at to find the correct knob based on the serial number of the unit.

[LunkerCity]

Not looking to steal the thread but the red button on my big buddy broke. I have ordered a new but I either ordered the wrong one or they sent the wrong one, Grrrrrr. Which one do I order since there are different ones from year to year?

Mine broke a while back, I looked on their webpage and found one for three bucks. The issue is they have flat rate shipping of ten dollars!!! Ridiculous! Any1 know if you can get them anywhere else?

[dan z]

Yup that's right cheap part nasty shipping

[svingla]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It was pretty cold out yesterday and the spare tank had been sitting out all night so maybe that was part of the problem. I will try it again tomorrow and see if it is working better or not. If it's not I will try a new tank and if that fails as well I will try the suggestion to clean and adjust the thermo coupler. Thank again everybody.

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

I saw a "coozie"(sp)at FF the other night that fits and a 1 lb. bottle and I wondered if it worked. Sounds to me that it might help when it is really cold.

Mike

[otterman91105]

They do sell the sleeves that go over the 1 lber or if it's not that it is freezeing up it could be the CO2 sensor. I have had that problem before and i just set the heater outside for a minute or open the door so fresh air can get in the house.